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Brothers Crank Out Mitchell’s Homemade

Mike and Pete Mitchell are a study in contrasts. Sitting at a table for an interview, Mike is full of energy and shouting out ideas for ice cream flavors while Pete gets out a notebook and starts scribbling. As Mike puts it, “Pete’s a good balance to my untamed motor.”

Twelve years ago, fresh out of college and armed with a philosophy degree, Mike Mitchell teamed up with older brother, Pete, who was then working in investments at a bank, to form Mitchell’s Homemade Ice Cream.

Pete’s business background helps him manage sales, while Mike describes himself as a “tinkerer” who loves to “take things apart” and “figure out the science and art of ice cream making.” He often tastes up to 20 flavors in a single day, searching for the next great flavor.

The Mitchell brothers are committed to sustainability and use many locally sourced and organic products. Their cream comes from grass-fed cows that are raised without hormones and antibiotics in Holmes and Wayne counties and local strawberries and rhubarb are featured when they are in season.

This summer, Mike and Pete Mitchell will expand their growing company to their eighth location, opening a shop and ice cream production facility on West 25th Street in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. The new shop provides their first presence in the City of Cleveland in what they call “one of Cleveland’s great neighborhoods.”

To celebrate their new neighborhood, they are developing a new West Side Market Centennial flavor as part of the yearlong celebration of the market’s 100th anniversary. We’d love to tell you more, but so far, the ingredients are being kept under wraps. So you’ll have to swing by and try to pry the secret out of the brothers yourself.